Novosilki. OCU raiders set fire to a UOC prayer house.
Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC)
Address: Kyiv Region, village of Novoselky, 63 Kyivska Street
The Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Novoselky has been systematically subjected to attacks and terror by activists of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). On three occasions, unknown individuals attempted to set the church on fire.
Eventually, OCU and Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) raiders falsified documents and seized the church.
Unfortunately, the terror against the parish community did not end there. An aggressive criminal group associated with the OCU burned liturgical books and icons belonging to the UOC parish.
The prayer facility where believers gathered for worship was attacked several times. Ultimately, the prayer house was destroyed by fire. The faithful suspect arson.
October 6, 2024 A group of OCU raiders seized the church.
According to information from sources of the Telegram channel Dozor, the raid was led by UGCC cleric Mykola Medynskyi.
Attempts to take the church away from Orthodox Christians had been ongoing for a long time.
The first church seized in the village was the St. Nicholas Church of the UOC. The raiding group did not stop there and organized an illegal meeting of the territorial community aimed at the “transfer” of the church to the OCU.
On that day, a group of raiders under the leadership of UGCC cleric Medynskyi entered the church grounds. When UOC parishioners attempted to access their shrine, the raiders provoked a confrontation.
Believers called the police, to whom Medynskyi cynically stated that the church belonged to him and that Orthodox Christians were interfering with him.
Night of November 11, 2024 Unknown individuals broke the fence and brought several tons of garbage onto the territory of the temporary prayer facility used by UOC believers. They also dumped books there and set them on fire.
This site is located on private property where UOC parishioners temporarily hold services after the seizure of the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, which had earlier come under the control of OCU and UGCC activists.
It was revealed that representatives of the OCU spent a week removing icons and books from the church and dumping them outside as trash.
“When they finished, they called a garbage truck. When he learned about this, UOC priest Fr. Ihor came to persuade them to give the icons and books to him. But the spiritual occupiers showed no mercy and, right before the priest’s eyes, loaded everything into the garbage truck,” - stated the project ‘Dozor on Pershyi Kozatskyi’.
Later, the garbage truck dumped everything onto the grounds of an abandoned house where the UOC parish is now praying.
At first, the believers and the priest did not understand what had happened, until they began finding broken icons, the Gospel, the Psalter, and other books under piles of garbage.
Morning of November 16, 2024 Unknown individuals once again entered the grounds of the private house where UOC parishioners have been praying since their church was seized.
The attackers smashed windows on the veranda and tore out carpets. Parishioners called the police and filed a formal complaint.
Early morning of August 20, 2025
The adapted premises where the parish of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos of the UOC in the village of Novoselky (Kyiv Region) had been holding worship services caught fire. Believers believe this may have been an act of arson.
Given the systematic atmosphere of hatred and terror directed against Orthodox Christians, UOC believers suspect deliberate arson.
КУ ст. 35 (свобода вероисповедания) · ЕСПЧ ст. 9 · Нормы ООН